Various systems require the adjustment of environmental conditions to function at or near optimal levels. For example, many electronic and mechanical systems operate inefficiently, or will even fail, in the presence of excessive heat. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that most electronic and mechanical systems generate their own heat as a by-product of their operation. Therefore, a cooling system is desirable to decrease the heat in such electronic and mechanical systems. Similarly, alkalinity, humidity, and other environmental properties also affect various electronic, mechanical, chemical, and biological systems.
With the advent of more powerful electronic components having increasingly large component densities, the removal of heat, in particular, has become an increasingly challenging technical issue. Furthermore, typical processor boards can, in some instances, include multiple central processing modules (CPUs) modules, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and static random access memory (SRAM), ac/dc converters, as well as other components, which may all contribute to the generation of heat. Heat sinks are often employed to increase the heat-dissipating surface area of such devices. However, heat sinks, and their interfaces to the electronic components, often interfere in the heat flow, which often leads to uneven cooling.
Other known cooling methods for electronic components include free-flowing and forced-air convection, free-flowing and forced-liquid convection, pool boiling (that is, boiling a liquid cooling fluid off of a submerged device), and spray cooling (that is, boiling a liquid cooling fluid off of a device being sprayed with the liquid). Because liquids typically have a high latent heat of vaporization, these latter two methods provide for a high heat-transfer efficiency, absorbing a large quantity of heat at a constant temperature. Typically, the cooling fluid used has a relatively low boiling point and is inert to the heat source.
Current spray cooling systems employ either pressurized liquid spraying or pressurized gas atomizing. Both techniques require the use of mechanical valves, which must be monitored, controlled and actuated by electronic and/or physical means. Thus, separate systems are generally required to facilitate spray cooling of electronic components. These additional monitoring and control systems add undesirable complexity and expense to cooling systems, while also adding another device that may require maintenance. Moreover, in electronic systems where space is a premium, additional monitoring and controls systems consume valuable real estate and increase the size of electronic systems.